Terra Incognita

Evolution of a Music Enthusiast, side A, unfinished

Summer 2000 Nick, Brian and I spend a week volunteering at camp, reviving some of our old favorite songs. Vanilla Ice makes a comeback as we rap, “Alright stop! Collaborate and listen! Ice is back with a brand new invention. Something grabs a hold of me tightly. Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly. Will it ever stop? Yo! I don’t know. Turn off the lights, and I glow. To the extreme, I rock the mic like a vandal. Light up the stage and wax a chump like a candle…” Word to your mother.

Fall 2000 I fall for the cute blond guitar player down the hall in the dorm and simultaneously fall into the trap of trying to match my interests to his (see: 1996 and "Rebecca Lynn"). I ask him to introduce me to “good” music, and he lends me his Radiohead, Weezer, REM and Jeff Buckley CDs. I get into Weezer, REM and Buckley (especially REM), but have a hard time connecting with Radiohead; it’s a bit too weird for me. A month later he starts dating another girl (they met at a Weezer concert, but of course...if only I'd gone to that concert!), and I’m inspired to write really bad poetry. I read one of the poems, inspired by “Fake Plastic Trees,” at a FARC Spotlight open mic night.

Winter 2000 A boy makes me my first mix CD as a Christmas present. It takes me nearly two months to realize that meant something more than just wanting to give me some fun new songs to listen to. Oops.

2001 An ex-boyfriend and I had bonded over U2 before our inevitable breakup. It’s the fall of 2001, and he’s dating a new girl, but he, Erin and I head to St. Louis for a U2 concert. In my devious mind, I kinda see this as him cheating on her with me, even though our seats are actually in totally different parts of the arena; “I win,” I think in my darkest of thoughts, even though by now I’m pretty sure I’m not that interested in the prize anyway. The concert is post-9/11. I hadn’t felt personally affected by the disastrous events that September, but during the concert, when they scroll through the names of the people who had died in the planes, the towers and the Pentagon, the music swells around and into me, and I cry for the first time.

2002 I begrudgingly give into Pat’s invitation to join him and friends for a Ben Folds concert. I only know Ben to be “that guy who sings the song about abortion.” Over the next two years I will see Ben in concert three times.

Spring 2003 Traveling through Europe, my flatmates and I spend our first night in a hostel in Rome. I can usually sleep anywhere, but have the hardest time here because I feel lonely and out of place in our trio. I rely on the calming melodies of Coldplay sifting through my headphones to soothe me to sleep. Parachutes becomes my security blanket in foreign lands.

Spring 2003, continued Against my better judgment I fall for British Pop Idol Gareth Gates and his sitar-infused rendition of “Spirit in the Sky" for no reason except Indian-infused pop music is a fascinating novelty (plus he's just so cute!).

Summer 2003 Sarah hooks me on Guster during our Stateside reunion in Clear Lake, Iowa. “Come Downstairs and Say Hello” becomes the defining song for my senior year: “Dorothy moves to click her ruby shoes / Right in tune to Dark Side of the Moon / … / By this time next year I won’t be here” seems to sum it all up.

Fall 2004 My favorite new artists are on-a-whim purchases: The Postal Service, and The Format; I'd never heard the songs on Give Up or Interventions and Lullabies before purchasing the albums on the same day. Because The Format is a Peoria, Ariz., band, I feel totally hip to the local music scene.

Fall 2004, continued I finally see Garden State in the second-run theater nearby, and the personal connection I feel with the movie leads me to download the soundtrack from iTunes. This is my first iTunes purchase, a momentous occasion, for sure.

2005-2006 My musical tastes continued to be heavily influenced by my close friends. Sarah hooks me on Belle & Sebastian, and Megan tips me off on the fabulous Imogen Heap. Both musical talents quickly rise to the top of my These People Totally Rock list. I also spend an inordinant amount of time listening to the aforementioned Virgin Radio via iTunes, which means that I have England's World Cup battle call, "The People's Anthem," constantly ringing in my ears (and poor Jana's as well).

Fall 2006-2009 Currently in the studio. Will include new, innovative songs and probably a few remastered and rediscovered classics.